Things that are utterly bloody fascinating

[ElizabethBest]

Let's hear it please - I love a good wikipedia rabbit hole. I'll start - The Willard Suitcases. Over 400 suitcases of possessions were found in an attic at the Willard Insane Asylum belong to patients who had died whilst inpatients so never left. The New York State Museum started a project to document the cases and their contents, and you can learn all about it and see the cases on their website.

wow the hosrders church

We own a three unit rental building and when we were renovating we found a record of 1919 and a drawing (not rude!) left by the original plasterers.

@YaWeeSkitter yes that's the one. Thank you. I might have to have a re read of her book if I can track down a copy.

Our first flat, a purpose-built Edwardian maisonette, had originally been lit by gas. A lot of the pipes and outlets where the lamps would have been were still set into the walls (but fortunately no longer connected to gas).

I've taken two stud walls out, in our house. Downstairs, it was between the hall and the back room and in the cavity, there were some lead pipes. I got a plumber out and they were original 1900 gas pipes. There was also a tin conduit, with rubberised electrical wires.

We had the bathroom done a few weeks ago and there was old electric wiring, which has a lead sheath and the wires wrapped in oiled fabric and a bare Earth wire.

My flat is Victorian, I wouldn't be at all surprised if there's some original pipework (water rather than gas, mine was the first flat to have central heating). Considering they were probably built quickly for railway workers they have lasted really well.

@ifIwerenotanandroid I sent you a pm about the author you found on Amazon re WW2 books. Could you share with me.

Also bump about the guy on YouTube you looks at storm drains and underground railways it’s for my son who has an interest.

Considering they were probably built quickly for railway workers they have lasted really well.

Ours is a 1900 town house (terrace) and mostly quite sturdy. The last one was an 1880 mine administrator's house, again, fairly sturdy. We didn't do any internal modifications - apart from stripping off loads of Artex....

This thread is fascinating, I love it! I’ve saved all the podcast recommendations - if anyone else has any good ones please share :)

@MissBattleaxe i visited when I went to Edinburgh. Fantastic tour

www.scotland.org/features/elsie-inglis-the-war-heroine-who-refused-to-go-home-and-sit-still

Hugh Pym's great Aunt was a lady called Dr Frances Ivens. She , along with countless others, saved many without any acknowledgement or thanks from the British Government 😡.

This is a fabulous thread and has given me lots to look at. Thanks to all of the contributors.

I went to Margate recently and visited the shell grotto. Apparently it was discovered early 1800's if I remember correctly, when the house above was being renovated. No one knows when or why it was built so has no history beyond that - a total mystery!

@rbmilliner id never heard of that, just looked it up, how intriguing!

Oh my this is so fascinating! I’ve never ever heard of it. I can’t believe they don’t even know how old it is. What a wonderful mystery.

I think it’s been mentioned but I’m fascinated by Everest and specifically the bodies that are there - how they are left, how much it costs to retrieve them, how they’re preserved in the ice. It’s so haunting.

Sad that so many people thought the EU was costing us money with little in return. It was a huge benefit. Thanks to the EU a lot of areas were regenerated.

When we go anywhere we look at Atlas Obscura. It has some main places to visit, but it is also full of obscure places. For example we visited the Old Operating Theatre Museum in London, Black Cats of Carreras, etc. Normally if we are going somewhere we look at this site and look at what other things are close by. Many are small things but fascinating.

Wish this thread had been around in lockdown!

A shout out for anyone in and around London to check out www.ianvisits.co.uk/ Been to some random little gems (sewing machine museum in Tooting, tour of the original London airport in Croydon, Amersham Fair Organ Museum etc).

Bit niche, but I'm fascinated by horse colour genetics, and even the names for different colours (like the poetic "sorrel" and "buckskin" in American English, and the variations in Icelandic).

@lieselotte

My mum and I both have a recurring dream about a horizontal lift with brick walls. We both feel sure that it actually exists/existed but are not sure where

Not quite horizontal but the lifts in the George Washington Masonic Memorial in Washington DC deserve a mention on this thread.

The building is tiered - like a wedding cake - (picture of it here) - and it is very wide at the bottom but very narrow at the top

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Washington_Masonic_National_Memorial

It has two lifts/elevators that run the whole height of the building but on the ground floor they are at either end of the wide ground floor. By the time you get to the top they are side by side. If you are ever in DC it's worth a visit because it is the most bizarre thing. Also the view at the top is stunning.

Apparently the lifts are on a slanted track but even though they explain it to you, it is quite hard to get your head round exactly how they go from being so far apart in the lobby to being so close on the top floor.

Margate Shell Grotto - wow! We went to Margate in 2019 and I'm now irked that I didn't know about it!

The exact stats according to Wikipedia are:

the elevators slanted inward at 7.5 degrees. The are 61 feet (19 m) apart on the ground floor, but only 4.5 feet (1.4 m) apart on the top.

We'll be visiting the vicinity a bit later in the year. We'll def check this out. Looks fascinating.

Let us know if it's as good as it looks!

I have to say, I think this is the best thread I’ve ever come across on mumsnet! So thank you OP.

i agree @mumsnettowers this should be in classics!